The End of the World
by tkelparis
Summary: Jenny Noble and Mickey Smith's first TARDIS adventure? The Earth's Death. Time to see just how alien the universe is. Written for cassikat's birthday, but I started posting it at Christmas on LJ. Second in The Noble Girl series. Sequel to Jenny.
1. You Brought Us Where!

**Title**: The Noble Girl – The End of the World

**Rating**: T

**Author**: tkel_paris

**Summary**: Jenny Noble and Mickey Smith's first TARDIS adventure? The Earth's Death. Time to see just how alien the universe is. Written for cassikat's birthday, but I started posting it at Christmas on LJ. Sequel to Jenny.

**Disclaimer**: Hugely AU. So no, I own nothing.

**Dedication**: cassikat, of course. :D And tardis-mole and bas_math_girl, for beta-reading.

**Author's Note**: This idea was floating around in my head because I thought that a certain character looked more like another character than the one who was her (sole) parent in canon. And I know cassikat wanted a Nine story without Rose. So we both get our wish here! :D

Everyone has had the idea of taking a character and putting them into a different family situation. So, take one character from Who, transform the circumstances of her birth into something normal (or as normal as one can get in DW), and give her a different family. What do you get? Possibly this story. If you eliminate one other character...

And please, review from two perspectives: one as though this WAS New Who airing, and also to compare with the original. :)

**Part 2 – The End of the World**

**Started June 6, 2012 (D-Day anniversary!)**

**Finished June 29, 2013**

**Chapter 1 – You Brought Us Where?!**

Wilf stared around at the room they walked back into. "What's this?" he asked as Jenny closed the doors behind them. "The Flight Room?"

"The Control Room," the Doctor answered as he flipped levers and pressed buttons.

Mickey laughed. "And just where does that lead to? The Engine Room?"

He pat the huge cylinder, with something going up and down inside it, running up to the ceiling. "This is my ship's time rotor. The engine is below us."

Jenny smiled. There was something amusing about watching the alien move about. He looked so human, but he clearly didn't think like any human did. "Is it always this green in here? Or do you like green lights?"

The Doctor shrugged. "It's been this way since... well, longer than I care to think." He cleared his throat and continued to work the console.

"Oh!" Wilf sighed. "Jenny, you're going to the stars! D'you remember how I always wanted to be an astronaut?"

"You've said loads of times." Her voice was filled with fond memories of nights up the hill.

Wilf hugged her tightly. "Wish I wasn't such an old man. I'd have given anything for a look at Earth from orbit."

The Doctor looked up at him.

"Now," Wilf continued, unaware of the new attention, "you go find a way to bring a little bit of the stars back for me and your mum. You know she'd love it, too."

Jenny nodded, her face glowing with possibilities. "I will!"

"Slight change of plans," the Doctor announced. They felt the ship jerk mildly to a halt, but the humming hadn't quite gone down to its landed state.

The other blinked as he walked to the doors. "Wilfred Mott, how's this?" He opened the doors, and three jaws instantly dropped.

Outside was the Earth. They were in space, looking over what looked like the British Isles and Europe.

Wilf moved forward a bit, right to the edge of the doors. "Oh, my!"

Mickey shook his head. "We're still breathing."

"The TARDIS has an atmospheric field. She's protecting us." The Doctor folded his arms, leaning against the other side of the doors. "What do you think?"

Wilf's face was lit like a child with Christmas Morning Syndrome. "It's barmy, but it's wonderful! I'm in space!"

The Doctor hadn't seen that much pure joy on display in... far longer than he cared to think about. Probably the last time he had a companion traveling with him. His lips drifted into a gentle smile.

Jenny was beaming just as much. "Is it as great as you imagined, Great-Grandy?"

"Better," he whispered.

Even Mickey was getting infected by the enthusiasm. It _was_ amazing.

/=/=/=/

"Bye, love!" Wilf called from Mickey's car, waving from the open window. He knew he had to make a call to Donna, but he would hopefully help her understand why Jenny did it.

"Bye!" Jenny and Mickey waved, her more vigorously, as the old man drove away. The car ran smooth, so it wasn't damaged by the Autons. Relief, Jenny thought.

Only when he was out of sight did they step back inside. Mickey took a big breath. "Well, this is going to be crazy."

From his place at the controls, the Doctor quirked a grin. "Right then, Jenny Noble and Mickey Smith - you tell me, where do you want to go? Backwards or forwards in time. What's it going to be?"

They looked at each other. "What do you think, Mickey?" she asked with a grin, not caring.

He shrugged. "I don't even know where to begin."

Jenny pursed her lips in deep thought. "Well, let's go one way, then the other. So... forwards first!"

The Doctor put something round down on the console and flipped a few levers. "How far?"

Now they both looked puzzled. "I don't know," Mickey said. "One hundred years?"

The Doctor quickly rolled something circular on the console, pulled a few more levers, pumped something that looked like it used to be for inflating things, and turned a knob. The engines made the ship lurch before he stopped them after a few seconds. "There you go, step outside those doors, it's the twenty-second century."

Jenny and Mickey stared at him. "No!" she exclaimed.

"You're kidding," Mickey muttered, noting that there was a little smoke coming from the console.

They got a smirk in answer. "That's a bit boring though, do you want to go further?"

Jenny shrugged. "How far do you think? It is your ship."

The Doctor fired the engines again, pumping the same item. They stopped several seconds later when he turned the same switch that stopped the engines before. "Ten thousand years in the future. Step outside, it's the year 12005, the New Roman Empire."

Mickey's eyes went wide. "What?!"

"New Roman Empire. There are a few different empires in humanity's future."

Mickey felt out of his depth already.

Jenny raised an eyebrow. "So this is how you impress people? Take them to random points in time, to test how much they believe? You really think you're the most impressive being alive."

His eyes narrowed. "I AM so impressive!"

Mickey flinched over the shout. "Jenny," he cautioned.

She wasn't fazed. "Fine then." She walked around to stand next to him. "Out there would impress us both, but you're dying to show off. I can tell. So go on then. Really blow our minds out of the water!" She finished with a grin, to let him know she was teasing a bit. He looked like he needed to remember how to laugh – especially at himself.

His face quirked with being challenged. "Right then, you asked for it. I know exactly where to go." He turned up the engine's power and pumped that same lever furiously. "Hold on!" he called out as the ship rocked back and forth.

Jenny and Mickey held on the nearest things they could. They listened to the cacophony of noises and sounds that accompanied the journey, and watched as the Doctor kept doing all sorts of busywork. With a pinging noise as he hit an object, the TARDIS suddenly stopped.

"Oi," Jenny breathed, "was that just to announce our arrival?"

The Doctor pouted.

Mickey took a deep breath. "Where are we? What's our there now?"

The Doctor gestured towards the doors, a grin on his face.

Jenny, nervous as she was, smiled excitedly. "Come on! Tell us!"

The Doctor gestured again.

Mickey frowned. "Oi! We're not going out before you do!"

Jenny scowled at him, but she didn't challenge him. She raised another eyebrow at the Doctor, who sighed and led them outside.

They stepped outside into what looked like some kind of wooden room. There was a door and some control behind them, and something that looked like metal imitating wood over a large area. The Doctor waited for Jenny to shut the doors. Then, with his sonic screwdriver, he buzzed at the glowing control. It made the metal items move down. They were shutters, covering an enormous window. It showed the Earth, just like they'd seen it just moments before. They looked oddly at him.

"You lot," he chided as he led them down the steps below to look more closely." You spend all your time thinking about dying. Like you're going to get killed by eggs or beef or global warming or asteroids."

"I figure disease or old age will get us," Jenny interrupted. "I know all sorts of things can kill any one person," she added quietly. She shook herself a moment. "What are you on about?!"

The Doctor looked intently at her, contemplating her seriousness. "You think about rather deep things for one so young."

Mickey barely pulled his eyes from the Earth. "You should hear her debating with some of her teachers. The way her mum tells it, she thought this one woman was going to tear up her doctorate."

"Innocence and intelligence combined," the Doctor complimented. Then he turned to look at the Earth, arms folded yet again. "But you never take time to imagine the impossible – that maybe you survive."

There was something odd in the Doctor's tone. Something tightly wound. Jenny blinked.

But he didn't give her much time to think about it. "This is the year 5.5/Apple/26. Five billion years in your future."

Jenny's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. Mickey just blinked, not having read as many science materials as she had.

"And this is the day... " The Doctor looked at his watch, which Jenny didn't remember seeing before. "Hold on."

He looked back up as a low rumbling hit the structure, and then they saw the sun send out a huge burst of energy. What had been effectively yellowish-white suddenly distorted into something on the orange side of red, and it seemed to be growing.

Jenny gasped. It couldn't be!

"This is the day the sun expands," the Doctor announced, calm-as-you-like.

Now Mickey's jaw fell.

The Doctor looked at them both. "Welcome to the end of the world."

Mickey felt his body go cold.

Jenny was aghast. "All of time and space, and you bring us here?!"

The Doctor stared at her in shock.

**(OPENING CREDITS:**

**Christoper Eccelston**

**Georgia Moffet**

**Noel Clarke**

"**The End of the World"**

**based on the episode written by Russell T Davies)**


	2. Aliens! Real Aliens!

**CHAPTER TWO: Aliens! Real Aliens!**

The Doctor stared at Jenny's accusing eyes. He hadn't expected this reaction. Mickey's, yes. Hers, no. "I like to open my companions' minds to possibilities."

Jenny snorted. "And showing me exactly how my planet will die is one of them? You're a laugh and a half!"

He groaned, and walked down a corridor. He suspected these two wouldn't let themselves be left alone for long. Well, most companions wouldn't be. These two had as much tenacity as any he could recall. He could only imagine the force of nature that must be her mother.

"Oi!" Jenny snapped, jogging after him with red in her eyes. Mickey, as dazed as he was, was right on her heels. "You think that's an answer?!"

The Doctor was temporarily saved from explaining by a female computer voice. "Attention."

Unbeknownst to them, outside two spacecraft were approaching the structure. "Shuttles 5 and 6 now docking. Guests are reminded that Platform 1 forbids the use of weapons, teleportation and religion. Earth Death is scheduled for 15:39, followed by drinks in the Manchester Suite."

Mickey shuddered as they walked along, ignoring the golden urns on display along the walls. "Scheduled?! And who _forbids_ religion?!"

Jenny exhaled sharply. "Just so you know, Doctor – I don't like it when I don't get a real answer!"

He sighed. "Then ask me something about what's about to happen. We'll go from there."

Mickey decided to interrupt, to try to head off a rant. "So, when it says 'guests' does that mean people?

The Doctor gaze him a measured look. "Depends what you mean by people."

"I mean... people." Mickey blinked at him. "What do _you_ mean?"

"Aliens."

Jenny's anger faded considerably. "Wait, aliens?! Other than you? Well, what are they doing on board this... is it a spaceship? What's it all for?" Although she wondered why there was a green glowing wall panel back at their last turn.

The Doctor pulled his sonic screwdriver back out. "It's not really a spaceship. More like an observation deck." He used it to open the door in front of them. "The great and the good are gathering to watch the planet burn."

Mickey frowned. "Why?"

The Doctor flashed them an odd, grim smile as he led them inside. "Fun."

The room was actually a large observation gallery, with another view of the Earth. Jenny and Mickey's eyes took in the room. It was huge, with glass windows on the ceiling showing part of Platform One. They could see a circular dome section, with some bright lights highlighting little areas nearby and windows shining along the section. The room itself was a few stories tall, with as much pale marble as dark wood. Or was it dark marble that looked like wood? In any case, the same type of longish wall lights they'd seen before lit the walls every so often.

"Mind you," the Doctor added as they approached the windows with the Earth view, "when I said the great and the good, what I mean is, the rich."

Jenny groaned. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"

Mickey shook his head. "Hold on, they did this once on 'Newsround Extra' - the sun expanding in the future."

"That show's too simple for you," Jenny muttered.

"Yeah, well, I was watching Jackie's kids, and they like it. But that takes _thousands_ of years, right?"

"Millions," the Doctor corrected. "But the planet's now property of the National Trust. They've been keeping it preserved. See down there?" He led them to the window and pointed at a slew of what looked like tiny glints of light orbiting the Earth. "Gravity satellites. That's holding back the sun."

Jenny blinked in disbelief. "Hang on! The planet looks like it does in our time! What about tectonic drift?!"

The Doctor smiled at Jenny's use of the technical term. "That continued. The Trust shifted them back. That's a classic Earth. But now the money's run out, nature takes over!"

Mickey looked at him. "How long has it got?"

The Doctor looked at his watch. "About half an hour. And the planet gets _roasted_."

"So why are we here?" asked Mickey tightly. "I mean, is that what you do? Jump in at the last minute and save the Earth?" Even as he said it, he felt grim. "Or not?"

"I'm not saving it," the Doctor answered. "Time's up. Everything must die," he added with a sadness that couldn't be held back completely.

Jenny heard the sadness, and caught a glimpse of something profound within his eyes. "Has everyone got off the Earth, then?"

He nodded. "It's empty! They're all gone. All left."

She looked back at the Earth. "Then, what's become of humanity?"

"Who the hell are you?"

The trio turned, and the two Earthlings froze. A man walked toward them from a side entrance to another room, He had a name-tag that proclaimed him the Steward, but neither human was sure the word man could apply to him. Because he was blue. And his eyes were more crocodillian than human. And his golden dress and tunic – which looked more like an open suit jacket to Jenny's eyes – hung right down to very wide feet that looked more at home on a goose than a man. Clearly not human. At least not as they knew it. The shortness of his temper could've been human, though. But the shining gem-like object on his forehead reminded her of stories about the third eye from yoga traditions. A golden helmet graced his head, but it was clearly ceremonial and not for combat – it didn't cover his ears or protect his face.

The Doctor was unfazed. "Oh! That's nice, thanks."

Jenny looked away from the object of their study to stare a moment at him.

Mickey leaned in to whisper in Jenny's ear. "How the hell does he intend to explain this away?!"

The man shook his head. "But how did you get in? This is a maximum hospitality zone. The guests have disembarked! They're on their way any second now!"

The Doctor remained calm. "That's me, I'm a guest, look!" He had pulled a small leather wallet out while the Steward spoke. "I've got an invitation!" He opened it to the Steward's eyes, ignoring his companions trying to get looks at it. "Look, there you see? It's fine, see? The Doctor plus two. I'm the Doctor, this is Jenny Noble and Mickey Smith. They're my plus two. That all right?"

Jenny frowned. An invitation?! How did he get it?! And how did it fit on that wallet?!

Mickey just blinked in shock. Could that seriously work? It looked blank from where he was standing.

The Steward's manner did a complete 180. "Well... obviously."

The Doctor grinned at the change. His companions' jaws dropped.

"Apologies, et cetera. If you're on-board, we'd better start. Enjoy." He looked utterly apologetic. Like a man who had been slapped for speaking out of turn and expecting to be whipped at the very least.

The Doctor nodded at him, as if it happened all the time. When the Steward walked off, the Doctor showed Jenny and Mickey the wallet, now utterly blank. Neither of them could believe it.

"The paper's slightly psychic," the Doctor explained. "Shows them whatever I want them to see. Saves a lot of time."

Jenny managed a hallow laugh as she folded her arms and narrowed her eyes. "I can imagine. Especially how that could be misused."

The Doctor flinched.

Mickey shook his head numbly. "He looks like he's a sort of... cousin of the Blue Man Group that Jenny's mum saw in Las Vegas."

The Doctor shrugged. "You haven't seen anything yet."

The Steward's voice came over a microphone suddenly. "We have in attendance, the Doctor, Jenny Noble and Mickey Smith. Thank you! All staff to their positions."

He had moved off to a rostrum off to one side of the room and raised his hands and clapped them three times. At once a small flotilla of shorter persons filed in from the corridor, in pairs, uniformed and with masks obscuring their eyes and heads, but it was clear that they were also blue.

Mickey frowned. Not the least because the Doctor waved at the Steward and still smiled inanely. "They like they're either children of the Steward, or children of his species, on day trip as guests or as students writing essays."

But it was quickly apparent that they were to work, serving guests with food and drink.

Jenny cringed. "Not sure I like people fussing over me," she whispered as at least a dozen of other little blue people scurried around her. "I don't like it much from my own family."

Mickey sucked in a breath. "Oh my god," he breathed. "They're not workers. They're slaves."

Jenny gasped. She instinctively took his hand, hoping to provide a little comfort.

The Doctor nodded grimly. "I'm afraid so," he whispered back, saddened at the sight. He wondered what it was like for Mickey, descendant of former slaves from generations past, to see it happening before him. If his family had only recently gained their freedom, he might've thought twice about bringing them here. Still, he'd noticed that humans of any era liked to assume they knew what things were like, no matter how far removed they were from the event. He supposed the topic would come up again later.

"Hurry now! Thank you, as quick as we can! Come along, come along!" The Steward waited for his staff to get things that neither 21st Century Earthling could keep track of. "And now, might I introduce the next honoured guest, representing the Forest of Cheem, we have Trees. Namely, Jabe, Lute and Coffa."

Three beings came through the doors. Jenny and Mickey's jaws dropped. They looked like trees that were the height of taller humans, and had faces. And walked! The two on the ends looked male based on their dark metal uniforms' shapes. The one in the center, wearing a dress of red and shining gold with threading shaped like leaves and vines on the red parts, looked like it had breasts. Its skin was darker than the others, though the pointed things that would otherwise be called hair was almost as light as the others'.

"There will be an exchange of gifts representing peace. If you can keep the room circulating, thank-you." The Steward continued, him and the tree oblivious to their shock. "Next, from the solicitors Jolco and Jolco, the Moxx of Balhoon."

The Moxx of Balhoon was a chubby light blue alien that looked to Jenny like a smaller version of Jabba the Hut in body. His forehead was an elongated version of the sorts of heads that the 'little green men' of many conspiracy theories suggested. His face seemed to be angry, which Jenny supposed you might be if your body was so big that you needed mechanical assistance to move around. His hands, which may or may not have had five fingers, seemed to use golden knobs to move metalic golden wheelchair – which had no discernible wheels. To top it off, the Moxx's feet rested in front of him, and he appeared to be unclothed.

The Doctor smiled cheerily, seeing races he hadn't seen in a long time – if ever. Mickey looked on bewildered. Jenny marveled over the assortment of forms and vibrant colours that were beyond any imagined invention of Earth. They had always had aliens as twig-like with oversized almond eyes, with nasal slits and a tiny mouth. Sometimes they would be snow white or made of light or even green with antenna sticking out of their foreheads. If they only knew. And she didn't even want to start on the Doctor and what her mum would call his box of weird. And being able to hear the box's emotions?!

"And next," the Steward carried on, "from Financial Family Seven, we have the Adherents of the Repeated Meme." A group of five aliens appeared, but no one could see their faces through their black masks. Long dark cloaks covered their bodies, and their hands were hidden within the folds. The only bit of colour were a single gold necklace that each wore, with matching square shapes surrounding a circle.

The Doctor chuckled at the look on his companions' faces. Ah, if they only knew what these ones really are.

"Repeated Meme?" Jenny repeated under her breath. "It became a science at last?"

"The inventors of hyposlip travel systems, the brothers Hop Pyleen. Thank you!" The Steward's voice preceded the newest aliens.

They looked something like an advanced version of a therapod, what they might have look like if they hadn't died out millions - or in the case of today, billions - of years ago. They wore coats or cloaks with a great deal of fur on them – the one on the left had darker with spots, and the other paler that looked like it came off a creature that was aging. The one on the left also carried a device of some sort.

Jenny glanced at Mickey and he was as blown away by it as she was. He had a collection of dinosaurs on his bedroom shelf which he still played with, despite his denials. And these brothers looked like them, without the tail. Under the layers of fur they had/were wearing, it was hard to tell which, it was next to impossible to tell if they had a tail.

The Steward continued as soon as the brothers moved out of the way. "Cal 'Spark Plug'."

Despite naming only one name, two creatures appeared. Oversized bonnets and masks and cloaks covered the two. One was goldish with flecks of something darker, and the other more brownish with even darker flecks. The masks looked slightly like distorted versions of the Storm Troopers'.

The Doctor was highly amused by Jenny and Mickey's silent but moving mouths. He could tell they were trying to figure out how the being breathed.

The introductions kept coming. "Mr. and Mrs. Pakoo."

The newest aliens were birds. Very big birds wearing dark clothing that appeared to have light buttons down the front, and dark feathers at the shoulders – not quite matching the ones on their heads – of their cloaks.

Jenny couldn't help staring at the two vultures with some disgust. She couldn't help it, but suppressed it, analysing it as perhaps a cultural revulsion rather than any disrespect for them or their species. It was just so overwhelming. She'd always wondered why certain animals gained the associations they held, and why they were different from culture to culture, but she supposed she couldn't be blamed for cringing over creatures that looked like animals that ate directly off dead carcases. Not in her society, at least. And a brief glance at Mickey confirmed he was just as disgusted.

"The Ambassadors from the City State of Binding Light." As the Steward announced, the two creatures entered the room, with their large mouths, tiny ears and four nostrils without a nose. Their faces were crinkled slightly, and the expressions they seemed to have pasted on looked like they'd just smelled something appalling. One wore a deep red garment that looked like it might've been used for some religious offical in the Catholic Church once in its history. Same for the one carrying what looked like some parcel that might have had tiny feathers on the objects that appeared to show on top. His – or her – clothing was more dark orange with dark buttons running a little down the front.

The three Tree People approached the Doctor, led by the one who looked female. On either side of her, her companions suddenly held plant trays with little shoots in them. Their faces were much rougher than hers, which raised interesting questions about their development. Jenny wondered what the advantage was.

She wanted to speak, but she wasn't sure of the protocol. Her mum taught her to learn the expected behaviours of the place she was going to, so she hoped Mickey would know to keep silent and follow the Doctor's lead. They just had to hope he knew what he was doing.

"The Gift of Peace," the female tree spoke, taking a cutting from one of the trays and handing it to the Doctor with a small smile. "I bring you a cutting of my Grandfather."

Jenny's jaw dropped as she looked at Mickey – whose face was equally startled. Wasn't that an awfully personal gift?

The Doctor was awed. It was a considerable gift, knowing their culture. "Thank you!" he breathed. The Doctor carefully gave it to Jenny, who took it with blinking eyes. Mickey's eyes flickered between the cutting and the trees. Meanwhile, the Doctor grimaced. He had to find something to show honoured he was by being trusted with something so personal "Yes, gifts... erm..." He cleared his throat and felt his jacket pockets for something he could offer. Finding nothing, he settled on an alternative. "I give you in return, air from my lungs." Without stepped forward, he blew gently onto the female's face, who closed her eyes briefly.

The female tree suddenly looked as a woman would look after sex; contented and fulfilled. And slightly surprised and amused as her eyes darted all over him. "How... intimate."

The Doctor grinned flirtatiously. "There's more where that came from."

"I bet there is..." she hinted, almost looking bashful before she and her companions walked off to mix with the others.

Jenny and Mickey thought their jaws would unhinge. Had they just witnessed the Doctor flirting with a tree?! Humanoid it looked, but weren't they totally different species?! And... what did those males make of it?

"Sponsor of the main event," the Steward continued, "please welcome the Face of Boe."

The two human's eyes grew as a huge head in an even larger jar wheeled itself through the doors. The head seemed distorted, like aging had been extremely unkind, and they couldn't see anything that looked like a body. There were knobs that seemed attached to the head with some skin, and his lips seemed downturned. The Face's eyes took in the room with an awareness that spoke of considerable intelligence.

"Nutrient fluids?" Jenny wondered in a soft voice. "How is that... person breathing?"

The Doctor didn't answer. Another alien came forward. Fortunately, he knew exactly who it was. "The Moxx of Balhoon," he greeted affably, slightly opening his jacket through his hands in its pockets. He also bent slightly so the the alien wouldn't have to look up so much.

The alien stopped, showing its longish teeth. "My felicitations on this historical happenstance," he said in a high-pitched voice. The Doctor nodded with a slight smile. "I give you the gift of bodily saliva." He then spat accurately into Mickey's left eye.

Laughing, the Doctor said, "Thank you very much." He frowned when Jenny swat him on the arm, glaring at him before she checked on Mickey, who rubbed the spit out of his eye, irritated. He cleared his throat. "Pardon my companions. Their area isn't familiar with the custom. Their culture works a bit differently."

Jenny was glad the alien nodded. "I hope we can understand each other better, then." And moved off.

She waited for him to be far enough away that she could whisper in a growl. "How little do you know about humans of my country from my era, Doctor?!"

He cleared his throat, stunned that his fun was interrupted by a girl slowly becoming a young woman. "Ah!" He seized on the next aliens' approached as a distraction. He hoped it would work on the girl and her boyfriend. "The Adherents of the Repeated Meme. I bring you air from my lungs." He breathed heavily over them all, which took several seconds.

Jenny and Mickey cringed. More flirting?

But Jenny felt another reason for cringing. Something about these... Adherents... made her blood feel a bit cold. That was never a good sign.

One Adherent answered for them all. "A gift of peace in all good faith," a male-sounding mechanical voice said. He held out in his metal hands with long, sharp fingers a large silver egg. The Doctor took it with a grin, threw up into the air and caught it. He handed it to Mickey as the Adherents moved away.

Mickey looked at Jenny, sharing disbelief. But any talk was interrupted by the Steward, and also by them noticing one group whose introduction they missed. Several beings with copper masks showing only a single horizontal strip for eyes walked by, wearing dirty white cloaks.

The Steward's voice took on a bit of a somber note. "And last but not least, our very special guest. Ladies and Gentlemen, and Trees and Multiforms. Consider the Earth below. In memory of this dying world, we call forth The Last Human."

The Doctor looked at Jenny and Mickey to see their reaction. They'd handled the rest pretty well. What would they make of this?

The sliding doors opened and the young couple were stunned into utter silence. What looked like a vertical trampoline made of human skin wheeled itself through accompanied by two male attendants in white body suits, masked and carrying cases with what looked like short spray hoses. It was the most alien-looking creature so far, even more so than the Face of Boe. It had eyes and a mouth, and wore what looked like lipstick. On its wheeled platform rested a vessel filled with blue liquid, and what looked like something moving inside it.

The Steward announced, "The Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen."

"Oh, now, don't stare," said Lady Cassandra. "I know, I know it's shocking, isn't it? I've had my chin completely taken away and look at the difference! Look how thin I am."

The Doctor laughed silently but heartily and looked again at his companions. They were suitably shocked and staring.

"Thin and dainty!" continued Lady Cassandra. "I don't look a day over two thousand. Moisturize me, moisturize me." One of the two men accompanying her produced a canister, which he sprayed onto Cassandra. "Truly, I am The Last Human."

Jenny moved slowly, a bit closer, for a better look, intent on walking all around her. Lady Cassandra provoked that cold blood feeling, too. Albeit more intensely. So she warranted investigation. Mickey, numb as he was, followed – just as curious.

"My father was a Texan. My mother was from the Arctic Desert. They were born on the Earth and were the last to be buried in the soil."

As Lady Cassandra spoke, the young humans discovered that she was completely flat. They could even see her mouth moving through the other side. Unable to comprehend what his eyes saw, Mickey tried to tug Jenny back to the Doctor's side. She didn't move though, silently signaling that she was struggling to grasp what her eyes told her.

"I have come to honour them and..." Lady Cassandra sniffed. "_..._say goodbye. Oh, no tears." An instant later, the other attendant gently wiped her tears. Behind them, the door opened. "No tears. I'm sorry. But behold! I bring gifts. From Earth itself - the last remaining ostrich egg."

Jenny and Mickey looked in awe as the member of the staff – whose eye mask came in and displayed the egg to the room. He thought to his memories of the nature books he'd read to his adopted siblings, and frowned. "That looks twice the size it should be," he whispered.

"If any of the ostriches at Regent Park's Zoo or Wispnade laid that, the vet would've been immediately called," she muttered.

Neither noticed the Doctor narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Legend says it had a wingspan of 50 feet and blew fire from its nostrils."

Mickey frowned. Jenny scowled.

Cassandra seemed to frown. "Or was that my third husband?"

The young people exchanged a look. One only shared by teenagers who couldn't get what their elders were up to. The Doctor laughed silently, folding his arms in front of him again.

If the skin woman could've shrugged, she surely would've. "Who knows! Oh don't laugh. I'll get laughter lines!" She laughed and mumbled to herself for a few seconds. Jenny couldn't hear, and she was closest.

Behind Lady Cassandra, a large jukebox is wheeled into the room. Jenny and Mickey had to step aside for it. "And here, another rarity. According to the archives, this was called an iPod. It stores classical music from humanity's greatest composers."

Jenny scowled and looked at Mickey. She mouthed, It's a bloody jukebox!

"Play on!" Lady Cassandra commanded.

One of the staff pressed a button and a record fell into place. The speakers blasted the opening notes of an electronic song. Jenny and Mickey recognized it at once as one of the record's Donna had in her 80's collection, and her Gran had the original in hers. Mickey leaned in to whisper, "Is that Tainted Love by Soft Cell?"

Jenny would've cringed. She hated to admit that she'd developed a fondness for 80s music at her mother's knee, even if the song had a more modern cover. Mickey had caught them dancing to this song while cleaning once. But any retort she had was silenced by the sight of the Doctor's head bopping around appreciatively to the tune, his body slightly following suit.

"He's been on Earth a few times, then," Mickey observed.

"Refreshments will now be served," the Steward announced. "Earth Death in 30 minutes."

As the music played on, the singer telling of how love had become painful (in a rather dirty undertone, Jenny had realized when puberty hit), Jenny and Mickey looked around. All around them, aliens. The only one who looked human was the Doctor – and he wasn't one. The aliens mingled, but any speech was jumbled to their ears.

They stood stock still except for their heads for several long moments. Feeling alone, Jenny tugged Mickey's hand to lead him back out of the gallery. "I need some air."

"Me, too." It meant getting away from the Doctor, just for a moment, which sort of appealed to him.

The Doctor watched their departure in concern. He'd thought they'd handled it extraordinarily well. He started to follow her, but was stopped by the female tree. Jabe, he believed her name was.

"Doctor?" She snapped a photo of him using a laser when he paused to look at her. "Thank you."

Frowning, the Doctor proceeded on. He wondered how powerful that computer was. He sensed Jabe walking in the opposite direction. Which suited him – he had to check on his companions.

And remind them to not go wandering off like that, no matter if they had gone to find a toilet – he'd heard that kids of Jenny's era tended to go in posses. Or was that just the females? In any case, even if it was a lot to take in, they should stay with him! Who knew what could happen?!

Across the room, the Adherents of the Repeated Meme offered the Steward a silver egg. "A gift of peace in all good faith," the first one said.

"No, you're very kind, but I'm just the Steward."

The Adherent of the Repeated Meme offering held the egg out more persistently. "A gift of peace in all good faith," they all said.

"Oh, yes. Thank you. Of course." He reluctantly accepted the egg.

Meanwhile, Jabe was trying to get her computer to work. The Doctor's picture remained steady on the screen, rotating while the DNA showed in the other screen. "Identify species. Please identify species."

The computer made a small whistling noise.

Jabe frowned. "Now, stop it. Identify his race. Where's he from?" After a moment, it gave her an answer that made her stare in disbelief. Hushed, she muttered, "It's impossible." She looked around to see if anyone was watching, and moved on, putting away the computer.

In a nearby glass cabinet, a metal robotic spider suddenly broke out of one of the metal eggs that the Adherents of the Repeated Meme had been handing out. Unnoticed by everyone in the room.

/=/=/=/

Jenny and Mickey found another small room with a narrow window. This one aimed at the raging, red giant sun with the planet in the foreground. They entered through some dark curtains, and ignored how the circulating air made them continue to move.

Mickey looked at the egg, and carefully put it down. He turned to face Jenny, whose eyes were fixed on the tree cutting. "You feeling as overwhelmed as I am?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I always knew that aliens wouldn't look like us, but..." She shivered. "Never thought about what it would really be like to be confronted with that in person. Even when I talked with Great-Grandy."

He wrapped an arm around her. "I know we always said we'd travel one day," he recalled. "I didn't have this in mind."

She laughed lightly, managing a smile. "I wish Mum and Great-Grandy were here. They might have an idea what to do. They can handle themselves anywhere. Wish I had half that talent."

A person approached. The jumped, and saw a female staff member enter and blink at them. This one's face was exposed, but her hat also covered her ears. She was slender, and had moved with the precision of someone on a mission.

Jenny cleared her throat. "Sorry, are we allowed to be in here?"

The woman looked around uneasily. Then she looked expectantly at them. "You have to give us permission to talk." Her voice sounded gentle, as if she was afraid of being slapped for illegal actions.

Jenny frowned. "Mum would've never gone for such a job," she muttered under her breath. Mickey managed a smile, which was all she could hope for given what they now knew about these blue people. "You have our permission, of course!"

"Thank you!" beamed the woman. "And, no. You're not in the way. Guests are allowed anywhere."

Mickey nodded. "'Kay." He watched as the woman went to a panel in the wall and entered a code.

Jenny took a deep breath, and prayed her manners would be useful here. She did have a lot of questions, and she didn't want to offend. "What's your name?"

The woman looked at them with a smile. "Raffalo."

"Raffalo?" Jenny was relieved she got the sounds right, given the nod and smile she got for repeating it. Thank you, Mum, for teaching me all the languages you learned! You knew they'd benefit me one day, and you were right!

"Yes, Miss, Sir. I won't be long, I've just got to carry out some maintenance." She knelt before an air vent. "There's a tiny little glitch in the Face of Boe suite. There must be something blocking the system – he's not getting any hot water."

Mickey's eyes softened at the normality of the discussion. "So, you're a plumber?"

"That's right, Sir." She seemed very proud of that.

He smiled at Jenny. "They still have plumbers!"

"I hope so! Else I'm out of a job!"

The humans laughed. Jenny approached, as friendly as could be. "Pardon me for asking - we've lived a bit of a sheltered life. Where are you from?"

Mickey had to smile. Jenny was always quick on her feet.

"Crespallion." She vaguely heard some metallic sounds coming from inside, but made sure to pay attention to the two guests.

"Is that your planet?" She hoped she didn't sound daft.

Fortunately, the blue woman smiled and stood. "No, Crespallion's part of the Jaggit Brocade, affiliated to the Scarlet Junction, Convex 56. And where are you from, Miss?" She blinked, as if remembering her place on the Platform. "If you don't mind me asking," she amended.

Mickey couldn't stop his cringe. Oh, how to explain this one? Did they even know about time travel?

"Oh! No! Not at all." Jenny thought for a moment. "We're from a long way away. We've just started travelling with the Doctor. He saved our lives, I saved his, and he offered us a chance to see the stars." She thought a moment about how most would consider the risk she'd taken, going with a complete stranger. "I suppose it was a risk, but I've got these instincts about people. Haven't failed me once, so I think he's going to be a good friend."

Raffalo looked slightly confused. Mickey wasn't sure Jenny should've said that much – she did tend to be a bit open and direct sometimes. More so than her own family could be.

Jenny cleared her throat. She suddenly wanted to find the TARDIS. "Anyway, don't let us keep you. Good luck with it!" She grabbed Mickey's hand and turned to walk away.

"Thank you, Miss. And-" She paused as Jenny and Mickey turned. "Thank you for the permission. Not many people are that considerate."

Mickey frowned. "No one deserves inconsiderate behaviour. Certainly not people who make comfortable life possible."

Jenny nodded. "I agree. Maybe we'll see you later."

Raffalo nodded and smiled.

Jenny stopped to grab the egg Mickey put down. "Let's not misplace these...gifts, okay, love?"

Mickey nodded, sighing as he followed her. "At least you're here. I'd be freaked if you weren't."

They laughed, the first genuine big laugh since they'd seen their Earth from orbit.

Such nice guests! None of them ever treated her like a person before. What a wonderful feeling! Shame she couldn't have it more often. When the two guests left, Raffalo took the cover off the air vent. "Now then." She peered into the vent and then spoke into a small microphone attached to her collar. "Control - I'm at Junction 19 and I think the problem's coming from in here. I'll go inside and have a look."

Before she could, there was a small tapping inside the vent. "What's that? Is there something in there?" She was startled to see a metal spider appear at the end of the shaft. "Oh! Who are you, then?"

The spider scurried away as if frightened. "Hold on!" She crawled in slightly, and groaned silently. "I... if you're an upgrade I just need to register you, that's all. Oh, come back!" A red beam of light fell on her face as the spider came back. "Ah, there you are. Now, I just need to register your ident." Then another spider joined the first. "Oh, there's two of you! Got yourself a little mate!" She gigged. "I think I'd better report this to control. How many of you are there?"

Then a third spider appeared, and then a fourth. That made her blink. "What are you?" Then she saw a horrible sight. "Oh, no. No. _Nooooo_!"

Her screams went unnoticed as she was dragged completely into the air vent.


	3. Culture Shock

**CHAPTER THREE: CULTURE SHOCK**

The Steward entered his office. It was small, with cabinets and drawers complementary to the wooden walls. He put his egg on a nearby table and sat down. He listened to Control speaking through his earpiece. "What's that? Well, how should I know?"

Silently groaning, he activated the loudspeaker. "Would the owner of the blue box in private gallery 15 please report to the steward's office immediately. Guests are reminded that use of _all _teleportation devices is strictly forbidden under Peace Treaty 5.4/cup/16. Thank you."

Unbeknowst to him, a spider broke out of his egg while he was talking. It ran up the opposite wall.

/=/=/=/

The Steward's voice interrupted their quiet moment of reflection. Jenny grimaced, not looking up from the egg in her hands. They'd found their way into a room that looked like the one they first arrived in, but they been sure it wasn't since the TARDIS was nowhere in sight. Each sat on opposite ends of the stairs, on the elevated parts. "Oh, dear. Might want to go find the Doctor or the TARDIS then. In a minute."

Mickey snorted. "Well, I'd like to see how he handles it."

"Earth Death in 25 minutes," the computer voice announced. "Earth Death in 25 minutes."

Mickey looked up at the ceiling. "Yeah, thanks." He looked at her suddenly. "Did you know that already?"

"Yeah," she answered absently. She looked at the egg in her left hand, tossed it up like the Doctor had, and caught it just as easily.

"Show off," he teased.

She grinned, glad he wasn't intimidated by her talent.

Mickey sighed, looking back at the sampling Jabe gave them. "Do you think this gift can hear us?"

"I don't know. I've heard people say that plants like being talked to, but I've never tested that on the ones we grow in the allotment." She frowned suddenly and put down the egg.

"What?" Mickey stood when she did.

"I don't know. I-" She cut herself off as a metal spider broke out of the egg.

They stared at it as it seemed to stare at them.

/=/=/=/

"Oi, now, careful with that," the Doctor admonished a slew of staff members who were moving the TARDIS away. It was not so amusing to see that many people of short stature touching his ship at once. "Park it properly. No scratches." He knew he sounded like some Earth bloke who worried about his sports car, but he was justified! This was a special ship – the last of her kind!

One of them, also masked, walked up to the Doctor, squeaked a warning at him that no one needed translated, and handed him a card before walking away again.

Frowning, the Doctor read it. 'Have a nice day' it said in slightly distorted lettering. He didn't recognise the font style. He stared at the retreating staff's back, wondering if they were all completely off their rockers, before walking off to locate his wayward companions.

He also didn't notice two spiders walk along the wall. Unbeknownst to him, they wandered through the walls.

/=/=/=/

Mickey and Jenny continued staring. "D'you think that was supposed to happen?" Mickey asked.

Jenny frowned uneasily. "I'm not sure, but I have an odd sinking feeling about it."

The spider started scanning her feet, but Jenny backed away. Before she could protest, the Doctor called out. "Jenny? Mickey Are you in there?"

The two watched in amazement as the spider jumped and scrambled through the air vent just before the Doctor came through the door.

He looked at their slightly pale faces. "Aye aye!"

Jenny blinked. "God, you sounded like my Great-Grandy there!"

The Doctor smiled. "Not a bad thing to sound like him." He sat on the spot Mickey had vacated. "What do you think, then?"

Mickey cleared his throat. "Great! Yeah... fine. Once you get past the slightly psychic paper... or if you can ignore the fact that slavery is still alive."

Sighing, the Doctor waved a hand helplessly. "Did you really think that it was over in your era? How many countries that you buy cheap clothing from do you think use slave labour? Your species, despite the best efforts of those who _know_ that equality is the only proper treatment, will be dealing with it for a long time."

"Can't you help them?!" Mickey cried.

"Wish I could. But there are limits to what I can do without getting noticed by the wrong authorities. Sometimes all you can do is plant the seeds of rebellion and revolution, and hope that not only is the soil is fertile enough to take but that the people will be able to nurture it and flourish."

Mickey cringed. He'd read about slave revolts that didn't work because they lacked the things needed to succeed. And they were just three people. He sighed heavily, not liking it but grasping his point.

The Doctor paused, waiting for more. He knew it was coming. "Jenny?"

"It's a lot to take in, that's all." Her voice was even, but she was distracted from looking intently at the air vent.

Mickey forced his mind to the earlier topics that had pervaded his thoughts. "I wasn't ready to see how... alien... other beings could look." When he saw the Doctor look at him questioningly, he tried to find an explanation. No sense in annoying their ride home. "I mean, I had no idea how Earth-centric my views were. I bet Jenny was better prepared for this than I was."

Jenny shrugged. "Not as much as I'd thought." She looked carefully at the Doctor, putting aside concerns about that spider for the moment. "Where are you from?"

The Doctor hesitated a moment. This Earthgirl had an uncanny sense of when he was lying. So what could he say that wasn't a lie – and yet didn't admit anything? He shrugged. "Right now? All over the place."

Mickey decided he had to ask another important question. "Is there some universal translator or something around? Because I've only heard English spoken here."

The Doctor shook his head, leaning back to rest on one arm and drawing one foot in. "No - you just _hear_ English. It's a gift of the TARDIS. Telepathic field, gets inside your brain – translates."

Mickey seized on that. "It's inside our brains?!"

"Well, in a good way." But he was stunned that even Jenny was frowning at him.

"Your machine gets inside my brain," Mickey rephrased what he heard, coldly and angrily. "It gets inside and it changes my mind, and you didn't even ask?"

The Doctor was thrown. No one had ever raised such a fuss before. "I didn't think about it like that," he admitted.

"Oh, and one other thing: I had a look at that paper, and it always looked blank to me. You mean that alien saw some drivel you created?!"

"Strange," Jenny interjected. "I saw it, and I can't understand why. It wasn't aimed at me."

The Doctor's mouth slackened. He shook his head. "Remarkable. You knew it was fake and still saw it. Those family psychic genes at work. And Mickey... you must have strong psychic resistance. You might be able to conceal yourself from quite a few tests."

Jenny held up a hand, stopping Mickey from asking questions – even if she wanted the answers, too. "Evidently you don't stop to think about a lot of things, do you? Has anyone ever made you look at what you do and think about whether it's the right thing to do?!"

He stared at her, stunned by the force behind her calm. He sensed something that he could recognize as like the anger he felt when the Oncoming Storm was brewing.

"Who are you then, Doctor?" Jenny approached, still holding the cutting. "What are you called? What sort of alien are you?"

The question made him cringe. He sat up straight and looked away from them. "I'm just The Doctor."

Mickey frowned at the tight tone. "No one is just anything. From what planet?"

"Well, it's not as if you'll know where it is!"

Jenny scowled, but kept her tone even. "No reason to snap at us. Just answer the question. Where are you from?"

"What does it matter?" He didn't want to think about his insistence on using the present tense to speak of his planet. It let him pretend, escape for a while. Run from the truth.

Mickey stepped right in front of him, suddenly losing all his nervousness. "Tell us who you are!"

The Doctor resisted the urge to stand and tower over Mickey. "This is who I am, right here, right now, alright? All that counts is here and now, and this is me!"

Jenny got right in his face. "Just because whatever happened hurts don't mean you have the right to take your anger out on us!"

Paling, the Doctor got up slowly and walked down the steps away from them. "Please," he asked quietly. "Please don't ask. Too painful."

"Earth Death in 20 minutes," the computer voice broke in. "Earth Death in 20 minutes."

Mickey looked at Jenny. What do we do? his eyes asked her silently. Jenny sighed. "Alright...we won't ask. Just don't lie to us, even if you're not supposed to argue with the designated driver!"

The Doctor smiled at that. He was glad his back was turned. It gave him a moment to recover his calm.

Instinctively, Jenny pulled her mobile out of her pocket. Then she laughed at herself as she joined the Doctor. "Silly me. Can't exactly call for a taxi if you're completely out of range." Sighing, she looked up. "Wish I could talk with Mum right now..."

Listening to the wistful tone, the Doctor made a decision. "Tell you what..." He took the phone from her.

"What are you doing?!" Jenny exclaimed.

He paused. "Well, with a little bit of jiggery pokery, I can arrange that you can talk with her from anywhere."

Jenny looked at him with her best What-do-you-think-I-am look. "Is that a technical term, 'jiggery pokery'?"

He didn't like seeing that anger, and didn't fancy the idea that she'd demand to be taken home after this. So he didn't move. "Yeah, I came first in jiggery pokery, what about you?"

Jenny rolled her eyes. "I don't talk about something I don't understand. You mean you're some tech wiz?"

"Yes," he agreed. "May I?"

"Well, now that you asked..." Jenny waved as if to say, suit yourself.

He smiled as he removed the back. He pulled out the battery, replaced it with something from his right trouser pocket, and closed the back again. "There you go," he said as he handed it back.

Jenny took it, looking at him dubiously. He nodded, gesturing for her to give it a go.

Mickey frowned. "How can you get a signal out here?!"

Jenny saw she had reception. And messages. She checked – the calls were from her gran's cell, her gran's home, Mum's cell. She quickly speed-dialed her mum's number, and her jaw dropped as it rang. She moved a bit away, hoping for a little bit of privacy. At least from the Doctor.

In her temporary room, Donna Noble was sitting with papers strewn about on the coffee table. She was pouring herself a gin and tonic (heavy on the gin), eyes wide with alarm. "God, what's my girl got herself into now?" she asked the ceiling. Her cell rang, and she numbly seized the phone. "Hello?"

Jenny's face beamed. "Hi, Mum!"

Donna nearly toppled her glass, grabbing it at the last second to prevent a spill. "Jenny! Your gramps just called! What the hell was he going on about you and Mickey going off with that strange man from Henrick's you mentioned?! Did you know that your gran was nearly killed by some moving mannequins tonight?!"

Jenny's face fell. "Is she alright?"

Donna groaned. Sometimes it was like pulling teeth to get Jenny on the focal point. "Yes! She and Jackie got home safe, but Mum was going on and on when Gramps told her. God, I've never heard her rant and storm so much! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"He saved the world, Mum. And I saved his life, helping him out. He offered to show us the stars and time. Didn't Gramps tell you that I sensed he's trustworthy?"

"Well, yes, but that don't mean I'm comfortable with it!"

Jenny cleared her throat. "You all right, though? None of those plastic things came alive near you?"

Donna ran a hand through her hair. "No," she snarked. "Would I be so calm if they had? Jenny, you are going to turn my hair all grey soon!"

Mickey marveled over the sight of Jenny getting to talk with her mum. He glanced at the Doctor in shock, who just smiled at him.

"Mum, I'll be able to call now. While I'm travelling, I'll call daily, if that'll make you feel better, okay? Even though it's a bit overprotective of you to insist."

Donna scowled. "Listen, Jenny! You're still a child and you freak me out sometimes with how your mind works! I'm not going to be calm until you're home safely!"

"We'll be home tomorrow morning, just as we promised Great-Grandy. Okay? I'm fine. Mickey and I will look after each other."

Sighing, Donna sat down heavily. "Fine. Just take care of yourself, love. I worry about you."

Jenny smiled. "Love you, too, Mum. I'm sorry I didn't tell you first."

Donna's eyes teared. "Get home safe, my treasure. Bye," she sighed, waiting for the call to end. She didn't hear it click, but she did see the phone indicate the call ended. She lowered the phone numbly and took a huge drink from her glass.

Back in the Platform, Jenny laughed nervously. "I talked with Mum!"

"Think that's amazing," the Doctor joked, "you want to see the bill." When her eyes flashed, he held up his hands. "No, it won't affect your bill."

She sighed in relief. Then she shook her head as the weirdness hit. "That was 5 billion years ago. So... according to now, she's dead." She looked at the Doctor with a frown. "Does it ever get confusing for you?"

The Doctor shook his head. "No. I can keep track of it all."

He was going to say more, but then the platform shuddered. While his companions' eyes widened, his eyes held a mix of curiosity and pleasure. "That's not supposed to happen."

"What about those spiders wandering about?" Mickey asked. "Are those part of the system?"

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. Okay, that didn't sound right. "What spiders? Where?"

Mickey motioned at the egg. The Doctor's eyes widened more when he saw it was open. "Now what are those Adherents up to?"

/=/=/=/

The Steward was again talking with Control. "Well, what was it? I'm just getting green lights at this end."

Not liking the answer, he activated the loudspeaker again. "Honoured guests may be reassured that gravity pockets may cause slight turbulence, thanking you."

As soon as he switched it off again, he spoke angrily to Control again. "The whole place shook! I felt it! I've hosted all sorts of events on platforms 1, 3, 6 and 15 and I've never felt the slightest tremor. I warn you, if this lot decide to sue... I'm going to scan the infrastructure." He pressed a few buttons, and frowned. "What's that?"

A spider scurried down the wall behind him.

He only saw something small and metallic on the scanners. "Control, I don't want to worry you, but I'm picking up readings..." The computer beeped. "I have no idea! Well, they're small, and the scan says they're metal..." The computer beeped again, and he al-but groaned in frustration. "I don't know what they look like!"

Suddenly, he spotted the spider, pottering around on his desk next to his mug. "Although, I imagine they might look rather like that... you're not on the guest list... how did you get on board...?"

The spider looked at him, almost mockingly, and pressed a yellow button on the control panel. The computerized woman's voice boomed: "Sunfilter deactivated."

"No. No!" the Steward shouted.

"Sunfilter descending." And the sunfilter did begin descending.

"No! Sunfilter, up! No, no, no!" He fumbled frantically with the buttons on the control panels. "Sunfilter up! Sunfilter up!

But it was too late. Blinding light engulfed the steward. "Sunfilter descending," the computer announced as the Steward screamed.

Outside the room, the spider escaped through an air vent.


	4. Exploring the Problems

**CHAPTER FOUR: EXPLORING THE PROBLEMS**

The Doctor, Jenny and Mickey entered. The guests seemed completely oblivious to the commotion, chatting to each other. The Moxx of Balhoon was talking to the Face of Boe. They heard something about some scenario. The Restorer, Jenny thought she heard.

"That wasn't a gravity pocket," the Doctor told his companions, interrupting the entire room. "I know gravity pockets and they don't feel like that."

"Well, what do they feel like?" Mickey asked pointedly.

The Doctor grimaced. "Feels like going heavy and then having twelve orgasms at once. None of them pleasant."

Mickey's face twitched wildly.

Jenny blinked. What did an orgasm feel like? And how did the Doctor know?

He quickly fiddled with a control panel next to the door. Jabe approached them. He heard her approach. "What do you think, Jabe? Listened to the engines - they pitched up about 30 hertz, is that dodgy or what?"

"It's the sound of metal. It doesn't make any sense to me."

He flinched subtly. He was hoping that her senses might've provided a clue. Right, he'd have to wing it – as usual. "Where's the engine room?"

Jabe frowned. "I don't know... but the maintenance duct is just behind our guest's suite, I could show you. And..." She gestured at Jenny and Mickey, unsure what to call them.

"My wards," the Doctor interjected. He was in no mood to see Jenny offended again. "They're young people under my protection."

The young couple looked at each other, and shrugged. It fit well enough. "Can we go with you?" asked Jenny.

The Doctor shook his head as he stopped fiddling. "I think it's best for just Jabe and me to go. Less dangerous that way. You two stay up here with the others."

Mickey sighed heavily. "Jenny saves your life, and you just leave us?" he demanded in a low tone, to not let his voice carry. "Fine! You two go off! I'm going to use Jenny's phone to catch up with family."

Jenny frowned. "What about Mickey's phone? Can he have that upgrade, too?"

"Oi, I did it because you're a child who needed to talk to her mum."

Mickey scowled. "Excuse me, I have someone I treat like a mum, and her children are practically my siblings. I need to check in with them!"

Sighing as he could see he was fighting a losing battle, the Doctor held up his hands in surrender. "Fine! I will as soon as I've fixed this."

Jenny rolled her eyes as she handed Mickey her phone. "Guess we'll go have a quick word with... her," she muttered, gesturing with her head toward Lady Cassandra.

The Doctor wagged a finger at Jenny. "Don't start a fight," he demanded, hoping she would listen. She did seem like a sensible girl. He proffered an arm to Jabe. "I'm all yours."

She accepted with an odd look. As they left, Jenny and Mickey wondered what now. But he grinned back at them, like saying, trust me.

Jenny did, against all reason. Mickey prayed they truly could.

"Earth Death in 15 minutes," the computer voice announced. "Earth Death in 15 minutes."

/=/=/=/

In the Maintenance Corridor, before the Doctor and Jabe entered, several spiders scurried out of view. Not that the Doctor noticed as he continued asking Jabe questions. "Who's in charge of Platform One? Is there a captain or what?"

"There's just the steward and the staff. All the rest is controlled by the metal man."

He frowned. "You mean the computer? But who controls that?"

"The Corporation. They move Platform One from one artistic event to another."

The Doctor was silent for a moment. "But there's no one from the Corporation on board."

"They're not needed. This facility is purely automatic. It's the height of the alpha class. Nothing can go wrong."

"Unsinkable?"

"If you like. The nautical metaphor is appropriate."

"You're telling me. I was on board another ship once. They said that was unsinkable... I ended up clinging to an iceberg, it wasn't half cold." He stopped a moment. "So, what you're saying is, if we get in trouble there's no one to help us out?"

"I'm afraid not."

He grinned and started walking again. "Fantastic."

"I don't understand. In what way is _that_ fantastic?"

Behind them, a spider crept out of its hiding place.

/=/=/=/

Jenny sighed. Talking with Cassandra, even while looking out of a window at the sun and down at the Earth, was more boring than she'd thought. And she'd always managed an interest in people.

Cassandra's attendants followed as they came closer to the window. "Soon, the sun will blossom into a red giant, and my home will die. That's where I used to live, when I was a little boy." She didn't notice Jenny and Mickey's eyes go wide. "Down there. Mummy and Daddy had a little house built into the side of the Los Angeles Crevice." She sighed. "I had such fun."

Mickey frowned. Had Cassandra been born male? He decided to not approach _that_ can of worms. "What happened to everyone else? The Human Race - where did it go?"

Her eyes flickered oddly and her blood vessels altered in which ones were most evident, and the latter changes kept happening. "They say Mankind has touched every star in the sky."

Jenny's eyes narrowed. "But that means you're _not_ the last human."

"I am the last _pure_ human." Her voice was haughty, filled with a pride that Jenny associated with celebutantes. "The others... mingled." Her voice flared with disgust. "Oh, they call themselves 'New Humans' and 'Proto-humans' and 'Digi-humans', even 'Human-ish', but you know what I call them?" She lowered her voice to a low growl. "Mongrels."

Scowling, Jenny had to resist letting her scorn fully show. That sounded a lot like those who argued against people of different coloured skin marrying. She knew quite a few people who look askance at her and Mickey, and it offended her! "Right. And you stayed behind." Didn't let yourself mix, pass on your genes in whatever way could happen.

"I kept myself pure." The answer was prim. Just like she clearly wanted to be seen as.

Mickey blinked, grasping Jenny's hand to remind her to not start a fight. "How many operations have you had?"

"708. Next week, it's 709, I'm having my blood bleached." Cassandra's eyes flickered over to Jenny. "Is that why you wanted a word? You could be flatter, Jenny. You've got a little bit of extra skin in your cheeks when you smile."

Jenny had to bite her tongue. Hard. If there was anything her mother encouraged regarding her looks, it was a sense of pride in them.

Mickey tugged her into his arms. "I think she's perfect the way she is."

"Honestly," Cassandra continued, nonplussed by his interjection. "It doesn't hurt-"

"No," Jenny said flatly. "I'm happy with my looks. If I have the money later on and I don't like what I look like then, maybe I'll look into surgery. _Maybe_."

Cassandra would have shrugged if she could. Her expression screamed it. "Oh well. What do you know?"

My boyfriend and I were born on that planet, Jenny thought. And so were our respective mums and dads – and that makes us officially the last human beings in this room, 'cause you're not human. You've had it all nipped and tucked and flattened till there's nothing left. Anything human got chucked in the bin. You're just skin, Cassandra. Lipstick and skin.

But Jenny didn't say it. As much as she wanted to. If she ever had the chance, now wasn't the time. She took a deep breath. "Nice talking with you." She thought she deserved an award for managing to stay calm in the face of a travesty of creation.

Mickey let her tug him off to sit by the Face of Boe. The head creeped him out, but she wasn't phased by it anymore. He felt benevolent if very quiet, which appealed greatly to her right then. Would be nice to have a conversation with the Head-man himself. Now if only those Adherents would stop looking at them.

/=/=/=/

The Doctor and Jabe were still making their way down the corridor, the low ceiling forcing them to stoop slightly. And the questions still flew. And spiders fled from sight.

"So, tell me, Jabe. What's a tree like you doing in a place like this?"

"Respect for the Earth."

"Oh, come on. Everyone on this platform's worth zillions."

"Well... perhaps it's a case of having to be seen at the right occasions."

"In case your share prices drop? I know you lot. You've got massive forests everywhere, roots everywhere, and there's always money in land."

"All the same. You respect the Earth as family. So many species evolved from that planet. Mankind is only one. I'm another. My ancestors were transplanted from the planet down below. And I'm a direct descendant of the tropical rainforest."

The Doctor was impressed. He then pointed to a control panel. "Excuse me." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and started poking the screen with it.

Jabe finally found the courage to ask the questions that had been burning on her mind. "And what about your ancestry, Doctor? Perhaps you could tell a story or two... perhaps a man only enjoys trouble when there's nothing else left..."

He pretended he didn't hear her. She wasn't Jenny, and so he could ignore her. As charming as she was.

"I scanned you earlier. The metal machine had trouble identifying your species – refused to admit your existence."

The Doctor pretended to concentrate on the scan, but a flicker of pain crossed his face. He silently prayed she would stop.

"And even when it named you, I wouldn't believe it. But it was right."

The Doctor stopped scanning. He knew his deep sadness was reflected in his eyes.

Jabe's voice was hushed, awed. "I know where you're from. Forgive me for intruding, but it's remarkable that you even exist. I just want to say... how sorry I am." She put a comforting hand on his arm.

The Doctor's eyes filled immediately with tears. Jab'e's touch communicated so much compassion, as much as he could sense from Jenny. He placed his hand over hers, grateful for her simple words of comfort, and a tear fell down his cheek. Composing himself, he quickly finished the scan and he and Jabe go through a door. He realised they were in the ventillation chamber. Huge fans circulated inside. The Doctor, grateful for the sudden mystery, looked down at Jabe. "Is it me, or is it a bit nippy?"

Jabe didn't know how to answer. It was not something she was used to seeing.

"Fair do's, though, that's a great bit of air conditioning. Sort of, nice and old fashioned. Bet they call it 'retro'." He scanned another control panel with his sonic screwdriver. "Gotcha."

The panel fell off and a spider scuttled out. It scurried across the floor and up the wall.

The Doctor and Jabe watched it in shock. "So that's what Jenny and Mickey saw!"

"Is it part of the 'retro'?"

"I don't think so. Hold on." He pointed the screwdriver at the spider.

However, Jabe was quicker. She fired a vine matching her skin tone from her hand up at the spider, disabling it. It fell into the Doctor's hand.

He breamed at her. "Hey! Nice liana!"

She blushed. "Thank you! We're not supposed to show them in public."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anybody." He turned his attention to the spider. "Now then. Who's been bringing the pets on board?"

"What does it do?"

"Sabotage."

"Earth Death in 10 minutes," the computer voice announced.

"And the temperature's about to rocket. Come on." He led them hurriedly out of the chamber.

/=/=/=/

The aliens milled about. Jenny noticed that the Face of Boe seemed very cautious in his answers to her questions.

"Come on, it's not like we can know each other in your past and my future!"

His silence was more telling than he could've liked. Her face – and Mickey's – fell from the shock.

"The planet's end," Cassandra proclaimed. "Come gather! Come gather! Bid farewell to the cradle of civilization. Let us mourn her with a traditional ballad."

Britney Spears' 'Toxic' suddenly blasted out of the jukebox. Jenny and Mickey groaned and covered their ears. This counted as a ballad in this age?!

/=/=/=/

The Doctor and Jabe hurried along the corridor as they raced to the Steward's office. The corridor was filled with smoke and the staff were coughing squeaky little coughs.

"Come on! Get back!" The Doctor moved his sonic screwdriver over another control panel.

"Sunfilter descending," the computer announced. "Sunfilter descending."

"Was the Steward in there?!"

The Doctor frowned grimly. "You can smell him. Hold on - there's another sun filter program to descend. We have to save the staff! Everone hide away from the windows!"

It took him a long moment, but the display on the control panel said, in the same font as the note, 'Sunfilter Rising'. The Doctor looked up expectantly, waiting.

"Sunfilter rising. Sunfilter rising."

The Doctor grinned, pleased with himself.

"Sunfilter rising... Sunfilter descending."

The Doctor groaned. "This is just what we need. The computer's getting clever, it's fighting back! I hope no one's trapped in any of the rooms!"

He could hear some terrified cries from one room.

"If they are, the locks are probably melted," Jabe realised.

"Sunfilter descending. Sunfilter descending."

The Doctor jabbed his sonic screwdriver right inside the wires.

"Sunfilter rising. Sunfilter rising."

The Doctor struggled with one door, but even his superior to human strength couldn't made the door budge. "The whole thing's jammed. I can't open the doors. Stay there! Don't move!"

Jabe added, "Flatten yourselves against the ground!" She hoped that would help.

"Earth Death in 5 minutes," the computer droned.


	5. The End of All Things

**CHAPTER FIVE: THE END OF ALL THINGS**

Not soon enough for Jenny or Mickey's respective tastes, the Doctor and Jabe returned. Jabe held her personal computer in one hand, and looked like she held something else in the other. "The metal machine confirms. The spider devices have infiltrated the whole of Platform One."

The aliens gasped. "How's that possible?" Cassandra demanded. "Our private rooms are protected by a code wall. Moisturize me, moisturize me."

As her attendants did, the Doctor took a motionless metal spider out of Jabe's hand. The Moxx of Balhoon bellowed, as best he could, "Summon the Steward!"

Jabe's voice was solemn. "I'm afraid the Steward is dead."

Shocked gasped escaped everyone. "Who killed him?" the Moxx of Balhoon demanded.

"This whole event was sponsored by the Face of Boe!" Cassandra shrieked. "He invited us!"

The Face of Boe shook his head.

Cassandra continued heedless. "Talk to the face! Talk to the face!"

"I think he's innocent!" exclaimed Jenny.

"Easy way of finding out," the Doctor interjected. "Someone bought a little pet on board." He showed the spider to the room. "Let's send him back to Master," he declared, placing the spider on the floor.

The room's occupants watched in fascination as the spider scuttled along to Cassandra and looked up at her. Cassandra's eyes looked shifty for a moment, but then she raised her eyebrows and the spider moved on to the feet of the Adherents of the Repeated Meme.

Jenny sucked in a breath. She'd been right again!

"The Adherents of the Repeated Meme," Cassandra all but spat. "J'accuse!"

The Doctor nearly snorted. "That's all very well, and really kind of obvious, but if you stop and think about it..." The Adherents of the Repeated Meme moved to strike him, but he caught the arm of the nearest and ripped it off.

Jenny's jaw dropped, remembering what was effectively two days before vividly.

He continued, as if unaware of the attention. "A Repeated Meme is just an idea. And that's all they are. An idea." He ripped a wire out of the arm and all of the Adherents of the Repeated Meme crumpled into a bundle of black cloaks.

Everyone gasped, but Jenny was the only one who noticed Cassandra rolling her eyes.

"Remote controlled Droids," the Doctor explained. "Nice little cover for the _real_ troublemaker. Go on, Jimbo!" He nudged the spider with his foot. "Go home!"

Jenny wasn't surprised when the spider ambled back over to Cassandra. "It's you! All that talk about hating the mixing of human genes – you're trying to kill the hybrids!"

Cassandra ignored her, glaring at the Doctor instead. "I bet you were the school swot and never got kissed."

The Doctor merely raised his eyebrows. Such an accusation meant nothing to him – it could never have happened on his planet.

"At arms!" Cassandra ordered. Her two bodyguards raised their canisters on either side of her.

Jenny moved toward the Doctor, but Mickey held her back.

The Doctor's tone was mocking. "What are you going to do, moisturize me?"

"With acid," she replied. "Oh, too late anyway," she added smugly. "My spiders have control of the mainframe. Oh, you all carried them as gifts, tax free, past every code wall. I'm not just a pretty face."

"Sabotaging a ship while you're still inside it? How stupid's that?"

The Doctor's question was on Jenny and Mickey's minds, too.

"I'd hoped to manufacture a hostage situation with myself as one of the victims. The compensation would have been enormous."

The Doctor was disgusted. "Five billion years and it still comes down to money."

"Do you think it's cheap, looking like this? Flatness costs a fortune. I am The Last Human, Doctor. Me. Not those freaky little kids of yours."

"Oi!" Neither Jenny nor Mickey could hold their tongues.

The same instant, the Moxx of Balhoon cried, "Arrest her!"

"Oh, shut it, pixie," Cassandra snapped. "I've still got my final option."

"Earth Death in 3 minutes," the computer announced.

"And here it comes."

There was a smugness that Jenny had always associated with politicians and egomaniac businesspeople.

"You're just as useful dead, all of you. I have shares in your rival companies and they'll triple in price as soon as you're dead. My spiders are primed and ready to destroy the safety systems. How did that old Earth song go? 'Burn, baby, burn'."

"Then you'll burn with us," Jabe said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I know the use of teleportation is strictly forbidden, but... I'm such a naughty thing." Her tone turned harsher. "Spiders – activate."

The spiders all blew up, all over the platform. A series of explosions rocked the room.

"Force fields gone with the planet about to explode. At least it'll be quick. Just like my fifth husband." She giggled, ignoring the horrified looks around her as her attendants moved slightly closer to her, lowering their equipment. "Oh, shame on me. Buh-bye, darlings! Buh-bye, my darlings..." She and her bodyguards teleported out.

"Heat levels rising," the computer announced.

"Reset the computer!" bellowed the Moxx of Balhoon.

Jabe looked desperate. "Only the Steward would know how."

"No," the Doctor said firmly. "We can do it by hand. There must be a system restore switch. Jabe, come on." He led her out of the room, calling back over his shoulder, "You lot - just chill!"

Jenny groaned and the Doctor and Jabe disappeared. "His sense of humour leaves a lot to be desired!" She looked around. "Everyone! Move into a corridor! Find somewhere not in the line of sight of a window! It's our best shot!"

All hell was breaking loose, but Jenny and Mickey managed to sound commanding enough as they repeated Jenny's words and guided people out of the room, pushing them down out of a window's sight.

There were fewer spaces than Jenny liked – and she was worried for the Face of Boe. Especially as the glass began to crack.

"Heat levels – hazardous," the computer announced.

In his barely big enough for him space, the Moxx of Balhoon wailed. "We're going to die!"

The glass continued cracking. Jenny and Mickey just barely helped the Face of Boe and his attendants find a place out of sight. Barely.

"Shields malfunctioning," the computer announced. "Shields malfunctioning."

Rays of sun blasted in through the cracks, burning holes in the parts of the metal wall they hit. Jenny screamed as Mickey pushed them into a tiny space right next to the Face of Boe. Pushing up against a giant face wasn't appealing, but it beat death.

If they could avoid it.

"I'm sorry, Mickey," Jenny whispered. "I'm sorry I insisted on us going."

Mickey held her tightly, trying to compress the space they took up. "You wanted to go, and I wasn't going to let you out of my sight."

They heard glass cracking nearby, and the screams of the other guests. They cringed, hoping they'd got them all out of immediate danger. Jenny shook her head. "My instincts failed. I thought he'd be able to keep his word."

"Maybe it's not his fault," Mickey allowed. A strange calm was washing over him, allowing him to accept that they wouldn't make it. He'd heard of this, but never thought it'd happen to him until old age. "At least I'm still with the girl I planned to marry."

The glass cracked further. The sunrays hit the walls of their room. But Jenny wasn't paying attention. "Marry?" she asked softly, staring into Mickey's eyes.

His were wide. He hadn't realised he'd said it.

/=/=/=/

Outside Platform One, no one could've suspected the danger inside.

"Earth Death in 2 minutes," the computer announced. "Earth Death in 2 minutes."

Inside the maintenance corridor from earlier, the Doctor and Jabe were running as hard as they could. The Doctor was impressed that Jabe could keep up so well.

"Heat levels - critical. Heat levels – critical."

He silently wished the computer would shut up, especially once they reached the ventilation chamber they'd seen before. "Oh. And guess where the switch is."

Jabe paled. The switch was at the other side of the enormous fans.

"Heat levels - rising. Heat levels – rising."

The Doctor noticed a lever right nearby. He pulled it down and the fans slowed.

"External temperature - 5 thousand degrees."

So there was a way, he thought. But as soon as he let go and walked forward, the fans sped up again. His face fell.

Weighing the consequences, Jabe pulled the lever down again and held it there.

The Doctor stared in horror. "You can't. The heat's going to vent through this place."

"I know." All too well, she thought with grim determination.

"Jabe, you're made of wood." He couldn't let someone die on his watch!

"Then stop wasting time. Time Lord."

He couldn't help but grin at her. Oh, he was asking her to come with them if they both made it through! He ran toward the fans.

"Heat levels - rising. Heat levels – rising."

/=/=/=/

The glass was beginning to crack inside the Manchester Suite.

"Heat levels – hazardous."

"We're going to die!" shouted Moxx of Balhoon.

Mickey had to laugh. It was a hollow laugh, but there was a bit of real humour behind it. "I've seen a future with you since last year. I just promised myself to wait until you were older and...had started a career. And after I'd finished college."

/=/=/=/

****"Heat levels – hazardous," the computer repeated.

The Doctor dodged the first fan, running underneath it. One down, he thought as he looked up at the next one. If this wasn't non-warefare anxiety, he didn't know what was.

/=/=/=/

The walls around them were rapidly burning. But they were no longer aware – except to stay pressed in their tight space. Jenny's eyes watered. "Really?"

/=/=/=/

The Doctor, still standing before the second fan, looked back at Jabe. She was sweating and breathing heavily, but her eyes held his steadily. Keep going, Time Lord – he could almost hear her say it.

"Heat levels - critical. Heat levels – critical."

The Doctor quickly ducked under the second fan.

/=/=/=/

The glass cracked further, light brushing the arm of the Moxx of Balhoon. He cried out, snatching his arm in.

Barely aware that anyone else was around, Mickey nodded, a few tears escaping as he saw that future vanishing up in smoke – like he feared they would soon. "And then I was gonna ask your family first, then you."

The tears fell from Jenny's eyes.

Unnoticed, the Face of Boe softly smiled as he listened to their words.

/=/=/=/

"Heat levels - rising. Heat levels – rising."

As the Doctor braced himself before the third fan, Jabe started shaking violently. She knew her body was giving out, but there was no choice. Her life for the others. As much as she expected it to happen, she gasped as one of her hands caught fire. The scream was instinctive.

The Doctor looked back, shocked as he watched Jabe burn away in an instant. Now there is no one to hold the lever down! The fans circulated so fast that the human eye could only see one moving mass. And yet it wasn't enough to cool the ship down. A human would assume it was impossible for the Doctor to get through. And the winds buffled him.

/=/=/=/

An infinitely tender look passed between the humans. As the computer continued the countdown, Jenny placed a hand on Mickey's cheek to kiss him. They held on tight, determined to go holding on to each other.

/=/=/=/

The computer droned on. "Planet explodes in 10... 9..."

The Doctor closed his eyes as the computer spoke. He felt all growing quiet as he forced his body to manipulate time, to slow it down.

"8... 7... 6... 5... 4..."

The countdown seemed to take longer to him. Eyes still closed, he stepped calmly though the fan. When at the other side, he opened his eyes, releasing his hold over the surroundings, and dashed to the switch, pulling it down and holding it in place. "Raise shields!"

/=/=/=/

"...1"

Outside, the force fields around Platform One and the ships it housed reset and came back on. Just as the planet was engulfed in the fire of Sol. The atmospheric boiled away, taking the oceans and remaining plant life with it. It exploded, but the ship endured the blast.

/=/=/=/

"Exoglass repair. Exoglass repair."

They pulled away, hearing odd sounds. They opened their eyes, breathing heavily from their closeness and the heat and the danger. It was a lot dimmer in the room. "What happened?" whispered Jenny.

Mickey risked looking over the side. His jaw dropped. "The glass is repairing itself. We're safe!"

Cheering slowly erupted all over the area. The guests also made all sorts of sounds that neither human could identify, and so did the surviving workers, but they didn't care. The computer's words kept repeating.

/=/=/=/

The Doctor made it back through the fans. He paused for a long moment to look sadly at the charred and smoking remains of Jabe. Such a person. So little time to know her, and she made an impression.

/=/=/=/

The humans stood to go help, and then Jenny froze as she looked out the window.

Mickey opened his mouth to ask, but then it hit him. He followed Jenny to look more closely at the swirling rocks and debris now taking up the entire view.

The Earth had died.

Jenny's tears came back. Mickey tugged her into his arms, holding her from behind as they silently wept for their home planet.


	6. Life After Earth Death

**CHAPTER SIX: Life After Earth Death**

They had to compose themselves to help the wounded, and there were a few. People who hadn't been able to keep completely hidden from the rays. The burns were horrific. Jenny had seen third degree burns that looked better than what she saw on some of the aliens. She hoped no one would lose a limb from today, or any major function.

The Doctor walked briskly in some time later. He glanced at Jenny and Mickey, grateful they were unharmed. But he couldn't pause to talk to them. He had an important thing to do first.

Jenny looked up from the bandaging she was doing for the Moxx of Balhoon and felt relief at seeing the Doctor. But where was-? She cut her thought off as she watched their designated driver go straight to Jabe's companions, mutter a few words to them and then placed his hands on their shoulders as their faces fell.

Mickey had finished with some first aid on Mrs. Pakoo before going to join Jenny, having done all he thought he could. Or all the aliens would let him do. He watched the Doctor's actions, and his face fell. "Poor Jabe," he whispered. Aliens were people, too, he'd seen that today. And one who seemed rather nice had died to save them all? He wondered if they should offer the cutting back.

The Doctor left Jabe's companions to grieve and walked back near Jenny and Mickey. She found her voice first. "You alright?"

Her tone said, as much as can be given today's events. The Doctor heard it plainly, and appreciated her quick realization that a good person had died today. A number of good people. Mickey's face shone with sadness and the same silent question

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm full of ideas, I'm bristling with them." He moved away a bit. "Idea number one - teleportation through five thousand degrees needs some kind of feed." He strode over to the ostrich egg. "Idea number two - this feed must be hidden nearby." He broke it open and wasn't surprised to find a device inside. He picked it up. "Idea number three - if you're as clever as me, then a teleportation feed can be reversed."

Jenny stood as he twisted the feed. Cassandra appeared before them, her voice gloating and coming before her body. "Ah, you should have seen their little alien faces." She stopped as she noticed her surroundings. "Oh."

The Doctor glared at her. "The Last Human."

The skin being who was once human grimaced. "So. You passed my little test. Bravo. This makes you eligible to join the er... the human club."

Jenny's tongue couldn't be held back. "People have died, Cassandra! You murdered them!"

"That depends on your definition of 'people'." Her tone again reminded Jenny of a politician's. "And that's enough of a technicality to keep your lawyers dizzy for centuries. Take me to court then, Doctor! And watch me smile, and cry, and flutter..."

"And creak?"

Only when the Doctor spoke did Jenny and Mickey notice there was a creaking sound in the air, like drying leather.

Cassandra evidently didn't. "And what?"

His tone was grim. "Creak! You're creaking."

Jenny and Mickey's jaws fell as Cassandra's skin tightened before their eyes. They watched at the skin woman eyes became bloodshot and she got whiter and whiter, and smaller and smaller.

"What?" She panicked. "Ah! Ah! I'm drying out! Oh, sweet heavens! Moisturize me! Moisturize me! Where are my surgeons? My lovely boys! It's too hot!" Red blotches appeared all over her skin.

"You raised the temperature," the Doctor reminded her.

She cried. "Have pity! Moisturize me! Oh, Doctor!"

Jenny's mouth trembled. She looked at the Doctor, pleading. She didn't like suffering. "Please, stop it," she begged, shaking. "Isn't that too much?"

The Doctor looked sadly at Jenny. "Everything has its time and everything dies. This is mercy for her and her victim's families."

Cassandra shriveled. "I'm... too... _young!_" She suddenly exploded. Jenny and Mickey covered their faces. They weren't the only ones. Though the body parts missed them.

The only person unfazed was the Doctor – his eyes were completely cold. "She would still be alive if she hadn't been greedy. So would the Steward and a number of the staff" He left the room without another word. He had to call the authorities so they would be able to help.

/=/=/=/

"Shuttles 4 and 6 departing," the computer announced. "Platform One now closing down for maintenance."

The Manchester Suite was completely empty – apart from Jenny and Mickey. The lights had darkened. They stood in each other's arms at the window watching as the Earth continued to burn and rocks flew past the window. Both felt very vulnerable and sad – and it radiated from them.

Leaning in the doorway, the Doctor watched them. He couldn't tell if they really saw what the window showed. He could understand. The sight was hitting a little close to home for him. He took a deep breath and approached them, wanting to alleviate Jenny's pain. Which of course would then help Mickey's.

They didn't even turn around when she heard the Doctor's footsteps as he came to stand beside them.

Jenny's face was streaked with tears. "The end of the Earth," she whispered. "It's gone. And we were too busy saving ourselves, no one saw it go."

Sighing silently, the Doctor looked gently down at them. A child was upset, and he could be blamed for it.

Mickey swallowed. "All those years... all that history and no one was even looking. It's just..."

The Doctor placed a hand on her right shoulder and Mickey's left. "Come with me." It took a moment before he was able to guide them away from the window.

/=/=/=/

Wilfred Mott was up in his kitchen. It was about time for Jenny to be home. He was counting on that Doctor to keep his word. It'd been hell trying to explain it to Sylvia and Donna. Mind, he had word that Donna had got a call from Jenny. He wondered where in time and space she was.

The grinding and wheezing noises he remembered from the previous morning came from nowhere. Somewhere outside. He rushed out as fast as he could, and beamed as he saw the blue box appear right in his front garden. To think no one else was around to notice! How could no one else hear it?!

The doors opened, and Jenny came out. Pale face, but looked unharmed. Wilf beamed. "Little Dawn!"

Jenny flew into his arms, and wept again in them.

Wilf blinked even as he held her close. "Oi! What's happened? What's happened?!"

Mickey emerged slowly, followed a moment later by the Doctor. The young man strolled up to join his girl in greeting Mr. Wilf.

The Doctor just leaned against the doors, watching the scene before him. He supposed he was stuck on Earth for a little while. If he wanted the two to keep traveling with him. And he certainly wanted _her_ to. She intrigued him. And the two seemed a matched set.

/=/=/=/

Jenny and the others stepped out of the TARDIS and into Piccadilly Circus. She and Mickey looked around at the crowds, seeing them in a new light. Children walking and laughing and crying. Adults and teenagers minding their own business and not always minding where they were going. "Strange to think," she muttered, "how I can now treasure what I used to consider noise."

The Doctor stood beside them. He listened to the cacophony of sounds.

Wilf shook his head. "Earth Death? It's so hard to fathom it."

One of the sellers called out, "Big issue!"

The four smiled. The Doctor's smile faded quickly. "You think it'll last forever. People, and cars and concrete. But it won't. One day, it's all gone. Even the sky."

They all looked at the sky.

"Well," Wilf said, "then you treasure what you have. You never know when it'll be gone."

The Doctor took a deep breath. He'd avoided saying anything earlier, but now he sensed that he owed Jenny and Mickey an answer for the questions he'd dodged. No one was listening to them, so he felt safe enough to speak. Flatly, he admitted, "My planet's gone."

Jenny and Mickey stared at him, jaws slack. Wilf stared, blinking at what looked to him like a bit of shell-shock.

"It's dead," the Doctor continued numbly, staring at the sky to avoid their gazes. "It burned like the Earth. It's just rocks and dust. Before its time."

The males stared in shock. Jenny moved slowly in front of the Doctor, trying to catch his attention if not his gaze. She whispered, "What happened?"

He refused to meet her eyes. "There was a war. And we lost."

Oh, Wilf thought. No wonder I can sense a war-weary soul in him. "A war with who?"

He couldn't answer. The memories had him lost for the moment.

Mickey swallowed. "What about your people?" he whispered.

The Doctor finally found the strength to meet their gazes. He looked slowly at each of them as he talked. "I'm a Time Lord. I'm the last of the Time Lords. They're all gone. I'm the only survivor. I'm left travelling on my own because there's no one else."

Jenny's eyes watered again. Her mother's influence told her what to do next.

She threw her arms around him, stunning the Doctor. Had anyone ever just thrown their arms around him like that? It was Jabe's comfort, but it went further and deeper.

"I'm so very sorry, Doctor," she whispered. "If I'd had a clue, I wouldn't have asked about your planet. Puts my pain from yesterday into perspective."

He slowly hugged her back. "I wouldn't mock your pain. Your family is your world." He choked on his words, amazed that this little human girl was making his agony seem a bit less than it was before.

Mickey rested a hand on the Doctor's shoulder. Wilf did the same on the other. "I'm sorry, too, mate," the young man muttered. "I don't like to add to anyone's pain."

It was the first time Mickey seemed to look at him without suspicion, the Doctor realized. Like he'd decided that he would trust in Jenny's instincts because his own finally matched hers.

Wilf rubbed the shoulder he was touching, "I've seen war. I've seen soldiers come home and hide within all these protective measures. I'd hoped I'd never again see the look of someone who really had lost everything and everyone he knew."

The Doctor felt an odd wetness in his eyes. He managed to blink it away. A Time Lord didn't cry. The reaction to Jabe's words notwithstanding.

Jenny pulled away, but placed her hands on his arms. "Is that why you asked us to travel with you? So you wouldn't feel _quite_ so lonely?"

He nodded slowly, unable to look away from the compassionate girl. How could a human have so much to give?

She sighed. "Did you travel with any of your people?"

He swallowed. "A very few of them. Most of my assistants and companions were humans."

Mickey blinked. "Why?"

The Doctor breathed heavily. "I disagreed with my people on a lot of things. They exiled me twice – once preventing me from using my own ship."

Jenny and Mickey's jaws hung open again.

"But I always sensed them, in the back of my mind. Time Lords could sense each other across space and time. We were all connected, no matter how distant the genetic link was." He shuddered slightly. "Now I can't. They're gone."

Wilf lowered his head, sending silent prayers for those souls. "How many years have you been alone, son?"

Son. If the Doctor could've, he would've laughed over the assumption. Lying was sometimes second nature to him – a defense mechanism, he believed Earthlings called it. But Jenny – she had figured out when he wasn't telling her the truth more than he liked. She'd called him on things he'd never thought about before. Perhaps he should be honest and see if she could handle it. "Almost 900."

The trio thought their eyes would explode. Not even Jenny, who remembered Clive's words, could suppress her surprise.

The Doctor eyed her in particular. She would be the key one to read. "You've seen how dangerous it is. Do you want to go home?"

Mickey looked at Jenny, guessing what she would insist on, and turned back to the Doctor. "Not sure it's safe to leave you alone," he admitted. "You nearly died without her help yesterday."

Jenny blinked at Mickey. That was an almost 180 from his stance yesterday. He'd seen enough to know that the Doctor needed their help. She looked back at the Doctor for a few seconds. "I know we're not much of a consolation, but if we can help a little bit, I think that'd help you a lot."

The Doctor found a genuine smile. "You give lovely hugs."

She couldn't help it. She poked him in the arms and dropped her hands. "I only hugged you once!"

"They felt like medicine for the soul."

Jenny laughed. "I learned from the best."

He tilted his head curiously at her. "Your mum?"

She nodded. "You know," she added, suddenly really uncertain but feeling ultra generous nonetheless. "If you'd like...I could be a sort of...a sort of adopted daughter."

He blinked, his jaw working but not making any headway in forming words.

Jenny cleared her throat. "I mean, I don't have a dad – for all intents and purposes. I could be like family to you – but only if you accept my choices." She grabbed Mickey's hand then, letting him know that the two came as a matched set.

Mickey would've beamed under any other circumstances. But out of respect for the man in front of them, he held it a restrained smile – although his eyes shone.

Wilf grinned. Oh, he'd known almost the moment Mickey had first asked Jenny on a date that the young man might be his future great-grandson-in-law!

The Doctor had to smile at the closeness between the young couple. "Wouldn't your mum disapprove of me being a dad to you?"

Jenny shook her head. "Mum says there can't be enough people in the world who love me and care about me. I think she'd say to you, if she was here, 'I'll share her, but you can't keep her.'" She imitated her mum almost perfectly.

The Doctor laughed. "I think I'm going to like your mum when I meet her." He got a big smile in return, and another warm hug. Oh, he could get used to this!

Mickey had to interject. "Although if we're going to keep travelling with you, we have to figure some things out. You know, juggling our lives and responsibilities here with all that weird travelling."

Jenny nodded as she pulled away again. "Yeah, I need to get some source of income so I can keep helping Mum and Great-Grandy. Mickey's got his job and college to finish. And-" She cut herself off as a smell hit her nose, triggering a growl in her stomach. "Oh! Can you smell chips?"

The others sniffed the air. Mickey and Wilf grinned. The Doctor surprised them all – including himself – by laughing. "Yeah. Yeah!"

Jenny grinned at his sudden enthusiasm. "Right then. I need something normal for the moment. And I want chips!" She frowned. "Can you eat human food?"

He nodded. "Yes. I've built an immunity toward human food. I've been exiled to this planet twice, so it's not unfamiliar. And yes, I'd like chips, too."

Mickey grinned. "Fine! Thank god I have today off. Doctor, we're not getting back in that box until we've eaten. Chips it is, and you can pay since you've disrupted our lives."

The Doctor shook his head. "No money."

Jenny narrowed her eyes as the others frowned at him. "Liar," she declared.

The Doctor blinked.

"I think you do have some Earth money. You've just never bothered to learn how to use it. Despite those two exiles."

He squirmed. "Maybe I need to rethink this adoptive family thing," he muttered, without any force behind it. "You're a lie detector on legs."

Jenny snickered. "Come on! Maybe that money's still around. Do you know what bank?"

Moments later they stood by a cash machine. "The TARDIS says it's this bank," the Doctor said, staring in confusion at the controls. Oh, he could make them work, but these companions were right – he did need to learn more about blending in if he didn't want people figuring out what he was.

Jenny leaned against one of the sides. "Go on, use that sonic thing of yours. Should help us see whether the account's still there."

The Doctor pulled it out, and aimed it at the machine. Soon the screen was flashing information by them and settled on a screen listing several accounts.

Mickey released a low whistle. "Someone's been taking good care of your money, Doctor. That's a lot of pounds. And the most recent deposit was last week!"

Wilf nodded slowly. He'd never known anyone with that much cash at their disposal. To think someone wouldn't use any of it!

"UNIT must still be paying me. I kept telling them I didn't want money, had no use for it, but they still paid me." The Doctor shrugged off the memories of speaking with the Brigadier on more than one occasion. "Never had to use it even during my exiles. I had friends who helped me."

Jenny snorted. "Well," she declared, bringing up a withdrawal screen and calling on one of the smallest amounts it would let anyone take out. "Today you do." She took the cash when it came out, handed it to the Doctor and got a receipt. "Now chips are on you, Ebeneezer."

That made the Doctor smile. "Did you even read that book?" he teased as he put them away in his jacket pocket.

She smirked. "When I was six. Now come on!" Jenny grabbed his hand and tugged him on, holding Mickey with her other arm. "We've got...what, four and half billion years before the shops close?"

The Doctor was caught up in her laughter. He let her lead them on. It gave him time to think about ways to take care of the things that would keep her and her boyfriend on Earth and prevent her from travelling with him.

He had a growing plan...

TO BE CONTINUED IN "The Unquiet Dead"


End file.
